Ishant Sharma Defends Dhoni’s Decision Regarding Bowling Change; Praises Zaheer

In an unlikely scenario, India had fleeting moments when it appeared they must have had a chance to win the Lord’s Test in the first of the India England Test series. But then it appeared that the Indian captain had made an unlikely blunder on his part, one that cost India the Test eventually plausibly. However, Ishant Sharma is willing to shoulder the blame while thanking the spearhead even as Zaheer Khan was no longer available for the match.

At the beginning of the fourth day of the first Test, England were sitting on a pretty close to 200 runs and it seemed India would have a tough time defending their place in the Test to bring out a draw let alone win the match. All England had to do was add the better part of about 150 runs and with their bowling having shown their prowess, would test the Indian cricket team.

However, Ishant Sharma, in an inspired spell of bowling, tormented the England batsmen, taking them by surprise by the extent to which he improved upon his first innings performance, testing them and eventually taking four of them out as England appeared to be heading towards a lead of 300 or much less to entice the Indian team into fancying their chances of chasing down the target. With the England batsmen smelling the leather and tumbling miserably, Ishant made the absence of Zaheer Khan a factor India no longer needed to worry about.

However, following the lunch break, India took the foot off the pedal with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain, taking Ishant Sharma off the attack altogether. What it did was allow the England stranglehold to let up, as Matt Prior and Stuart Broad went about building a 150 plus run partnership that once more tilted the match firmly in England’s favour as they amassed the target of 458 for India by the time Prior finished his century and Broad made a half century.

The dramatic manner in which the complexion of the match changed once more begged questions of the logic of not bowling Ishant Sharma straightaway following the lunch break. Dhoni was blamed for erring in logic as India found themselves with the difficult task of batting out the rest of the match with Gautam Gambhir injured and Sachin Tendulkar down with a viral infection and thereby, changing the batting order.

While Ishant Sharma thanked Zaheer Khan for explaining to him the value of not bowling from the pavilion end as he did in the first innings, he was equally supportive of his skipper, claiming that Dhoni had only acting in Ishant’s interests and that the decision was not entirely Dhoni’s to be blamed. Ishant was apparently asked if he needed a breather and he gladly accepted it keeping in mind that his body needed to hold up for the better part of the Test series.

This is what Ishant had to say on Dhoni’s post lunch decision:

I am also human. I have a body to look after and there are three more Test matches. I had bowled 11 overs in the first session and during the break, Dhoni asked me if I wanted to bowl straightaway after lunch or if I preferred a break. I said I wanted a break

Whether the offer from the skipper was warranted given the circumstances and the fact that India were coming back on the field after a forty minute break though will be debated because the game changed quite drastically after that. Fortunately for the skipper and his young bowler, there is little time before the second Test in Trent Bridge where India would have to refocus on their plans and execution and forget about the assumed mistakes from the past.